Chapter 83 - Yayāti Visits the Divine Worlds

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Sukarman said:

1-5a. Having called all the subjects from all parts (of the world), the lord of the earth, full of great joy, said: “O best ones my subjects—brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras, along with this lady I am going to Indra’s heaven, Brahmā’s heaven, Rudra’s heaven and then to Viṣṇu’s heaven, destroying all sins and causing salvation. There is no doubt about it. With (your) families (you) should stay happily on the earth. O people, I have appointed this glorious and wise Pūru as your guardian and king with the sceptre.”

5b-13. Thus addressed, all those subjects said to the king: “O best king, in (i.e. from) all the Vedas and Purāṇas we hear about Dharma; but nobody has seen, as we saw, Dharma, like the one (i.e. you) born in Nahuṣa’s great house, in the lunar dynasty, of ten constituents, loving truth, possessing hands, feet and face, propagating all (good) practices, endowed with spiritual and material knowledge, and a great treasure of religious merit, the mine of virtues and proficient in truth, O great king. Truthful and highly lustrous people practise great virtues. That Dharma we have seen in you, of a desirable form (or handsome like Cupid), satisfying (our) desires and so truth-speaking. Even with the three kinds of acts (i.e. of body, mind and speech) we are unable to abandon you, We shall happily and, agreeably go wherever you go. There is no doubt that we shall be in hell where you will stay (i.e. if you live in a hell). O very great king, without you, what is the use of a wife, or enjoyments, or life? We have nothing to do with that (i.e. wife etc.). O lord of kings, we shall go with you only; this will not be otherwise.”

14-26a. Hearing these words of the subjects, the lord of the earth, full of great joy said to the subjects: “O you all very meritorious people, come along with me.” With Cupid’s daughter the king got into the chariot. (That) Yayāti, Nahuṣa’s son, shone like Indra, the lord of gods, with the chariot having the colour of swans and resembling the orb of the moon; he was free from distress (as he was) being fanned by chowries and fans; he also shone with that lucky, auspicious and great banner. He was praised by sages, bards and singers, so also by his subjects. Then all his subjects approached the lord of men in vehicles; and they proceeded to heaven with (i.e. having mounted on) elephants and horses (and having got into) chariots. They were brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras and other common people. All they were followers of Viṣṇu and were absorbed in the meditation on Viṣṇu. Their banners were white and adorned with golden staffs. All were marked with conches and discs and were having staffs and flags. The banners urged by wind shone among the crowds of the subjects. All (the subjects) had put on divine garlands, and were adorned with Tulasī-leaves. Their bodies were smeared with divine sandal, and with (the paste of) divine black ale wood. They were adorned with divine garments and were decorated with divine ornaments. All those handsome people followed the king. All the subjects—the people numbering thousands, hundreds of lakhs and crores, and very large numbers like arva, kharva (i.e. 10,000,000,000) went (with the king). All of them, followers of Viṣṇu, doing meritorious acts, absorbed in the meditation of Viṣṇu, and in muttering (sacred names) and in charity (went) with the king.

Sukarman said:

26b-30a. Full of great joy all of them proceeded (with the king), O great king, having installed his son Pūru on his throne, that Yayāti, the lord of the earth, went to Viṣṇu’s world. Due to his lustre, religious merit and piety all those people proceeded to the best heaven ofViṣṇu. Then along with the king of gods, gods with the Gandharvas, Kinnaras and bards came facing them (to greet them), honouring that very lord of kings, O best king.

Indra said:

30b. O great king, welcome to you. Enter my house.

31a. Enjoy here all divine pleasures as you like.

The king said:

31b-40a. O you thousand-eyed, very wise god, I am saluting your lotus-like couple of feet. I (shall) then go to Brahmā’s heaven.

Being praised by the gods, he went to Brahmā’s heaven. The very lustrous Brahmā along with excellent sages offered him hospitable reception with water for washing his feet and with respectful offering and excellent seats; (and) said to him: “By the power of your deeds go to Viṣṇu’s heaven.” Thus addressed by the Creator he went to Śiva’s house. Śiva, along with Umā (i.e. Pārvatī) offered hospitable reception to that very king, and said these words to the king: “O lord of kings, you are the devotee of Kṛṣṇa, you are also very dear to me; therefore, O Yayāti, lord of kings, live in my house. Enjoy all pleasures difficult to be obtained by human beings. O lord of kings, there is certainly no difference between Viṣṇu and me. There is no doubt that he who has the form of Viṣṇu is Śiva, and O king, he who is Rudra (i.e. Śiva) is the ancient Viṣṇu. There is no difference between the two. Therefore only I speak (like this). I do give a place (in my abode) to a meritorious devotee of Viṣṇu. Therefore, O innocent great king, you should stay here.”

40b-43a. Thus addressed by Śiva, Yayāti, dear to Viṣṇu, and with his neck (i.e. head) bent down in devotion, saluted Śiva, the lord of gods, (and said to him:) “O great god, whatever you have said is proper. There is no difference between you two. It is one form divided into two. I desire to go (to the heaven) of Viṣṇu; I salute your feet.” “O great king, let it be so; go to the heaven of Viṣṇu.”

43b-65a. (Thus) instructed by Śiva also, the lord of the earth, with Viṣṇu’s very meritorious devotees, dear to Viṣṇu dancing before him—the king—, proceeded (towards Viṣṇu’s heaven). He, accompanied by the conch-sounds destroying great sins, and very many roars of lions, many (other) sounds, being worshipped by good bards, (his praise) being sung in melodious tones by public readers skilled in scriptures, moved (on). Gandharvas, eagerly engaged in singing, sang before him. He was being praised by sages along with hosts of gods that had joined them. That son of Nahuṣa was being served by beautiful celestial damsels. That great king, being praised by meritorious and auspicious Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Siddhas, bards, Sādhyas, Vidyādharas, Maruts and Vasus, so also Rudra and groups of Ādityas, and by the Guardians and Lords of quarters, and by all the three worlds all around, saw the matchless and trouble-free heaven of Viṣṇu. O king, that excellent and best city shone with golden, heavenly cars, full of all beauty, with hundred-storied mansions shining with halls white like swans, the kunda (flowers) or the moon, and resembling the Meru and Mandāra mountains which with their tops touched the heaven and the sky, and with bright, golden pitchers (on their tops). It shone with the splendour of lustre like the sky with multitudes of stars; with flames of blazing lustre it, as it were, looked with eyes. O lord of kings, that Śiva’s heaven, invited, with many jewels, as it were, with teeth showing while laughing, and under the pretext of the flag with tossing foliage, the meritorious devotees of Viṣṇu, dear to Viṣṇu. It was well adorned everywhere with charming tops of banners tossed by wind, and with golden staffs and bells. It shone with gates and watch-towers looking (bright) like the sun’s lustre, with beautiful round windows, rows of lattices and windows with the lustres of the broad ways, and golden ramparts, with arches, good banners and many very auspicious sounds, with the tops of pitchers, mirror-like discs resembling in lustre the sun’s orb, with great splendour, with hundreds of private chambers resembling water-less clouds, crowded with staffs and umbrellas and pitchers, with chambers like clouds in the rainy season, and the earth looked, with (so many) pitchers, like the sky with stars. The city of Viṣṇu looked beautiful with the mass of staffs and banners with lustre like the multitude of stars, of the form of crystal objects, looking like a conch or the moon, with crowds of golden palaces and (palaces) made of many metals, with divine cars numbering ten millions and thousands of hundreds of crores; and with all enjoyments. Those men, devotees of Viṣṇu, of righteous deeds and with all their sins washed away live, through his grace, in those houses, which are fully meritorious, divine and rich in all pleasures.

65b-75. The house of Viṣṇu was adorned with excellent (objects) like these. It was everywhere crowded with many kinds of trees, graced with sandal trees, having all desired fruits. It shone with wells, ponds and lakes beautified with cranes, so also with lakes, crowded with swans and ducks, beautified with white lotuses, (other) lotuses, big white lotuses, (other kinds of) lotuses and blue lotuses, and (others) having the colour of (i.e. resembling) golden lotuses. Vaikuṇṭha (i.e. Viṣṇu’s heaven) was rich with all beauty, was adorned with divine parks, was full of divine charm and was graced by the devotees of Viṣṇu. The king saw (this) Vaikuṇṭha, the matchless place of salvation. Yayāti, Nahuṣa’s son, entered that beautiful city, crowded with hosts of gods and free from any morbid heat. He saw that Viṣṇu, destroyer of all sufferings, free from any damage, shining with divine cars, resplendent with all ornaments, clad in a yellow garment, marked with Śrīvatsa, and very lustrous, mounted on Garuḍa accompanied by Śrī, higher than the highest,—the highest god, the refuge of all the worlds, (who) shone with perfect detachment of the form of the highest joy, and was being served by great, very meritorious devotees of Viṣṇu.

76-79. The lord of the earth, with his wife, saluted Nārāyaṇa (i.e. Viṣṇu) crowded with hosts of gods, waited upon by groups of Gandharvas and celestial nymphs, who was magnanimous and who removed all sufferings. All the men, devotees of Viṣṇu, who had gone with the king, saluted Viṣṇu, O you very intelligent one. O you highly intelligent one, they devoutly saluted his both feet. Viṣṇu said to the glorious king, who was blazing with lustre, and who was saluting him: “O you of a good vow, I am pleased with you. O lord of kings, ask for a boon which you have in your mind; I shall certainly grant it to you. You are my devotee, O you very intelligent one.”

The king said:

80. O Madhusūdana, O lord of gods, if you are pleased, then, O lord of the worlds, always grant me your servitude (i.e. make me your servant).

Viṣṇu said:

81-83. O glorious one, let it be so; you are undoubtedly my devotee; O great king, with this lady you may stay in my heaven.

That great king Yayāti, the lord of the earth, thus addressed, lived, through the grace of that god, in the excellent heaven of Viṣṇu, which was decorated.